The Will County Community Health Center (WCCHC) has been honored for Excellence in Transforming Patient Outcomes from CAREMINDr. The WCCHC received the honor for its Hypertension Control program in response to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services FY21 National Hypertension Control Initiative.
WCCHC patients are able to sign-up for the home monitoring program and receive a blood pressure cuff connected by Bluetooth to their cell phone. Working with the CAREMINDr platform, which connects patients to providers by linking smartphones with automated digital technology, the blood pressure data automatically is transmitted to the patient’s provider at the WCCHC for monitoring and support by the nurse care coordinators. Nurses, providers, and a healthcare liaison help patients manage medications and appointments and make lifestyle changes designed to ease hypertension.
“We have given out 600 monitors to patients during the past year and currently have 372 who are actively enrolled in the home blood pressure monitoring program,” said Mary Maragos, CEO of the Will County Community Health Center. “At the start of the program, only 13.9 percent of the patients had normal blood pressure measurements. Now 69.9 percent have consistently normal readings. Our patients comment on how much they enjoy gaining control of their own health outcomes and seeing such positive results.”
According to CAREMINDr, the WCCHC’s home monitoring program has been projected to “have averted numerous strokes, heart attacks, and related treatments and have prevented more than $700,000 in healthcare event costs.”
Anyone interested in joining the Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Program must be a patient of the Will County Community Health Center. Schedule an appointment by calling 815-727-8670.